With the closing ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the dream of "Italy Eight Minutes" has struck, and the quadrennial Winter Olympics have officially entered "Milan time". At the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese legion ranked among the top three gold medals for the first time with 9 gold medals and 15 medals, creating the best record in history. Among them, there are Su Yiming, Gu Ailing and other new generations of the world; there are Wu Dajing, Gao Tingyu and other Mesozoic generations of strong and strong; there are Xu Mengtao, Qi Guangpu and other veteran swords are not old. At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, these athletes who won gold medals and honors for the Chinese team at the Beijing Winter Olympics are destined to have some people who cannot "go to the appointment".
After the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which veterans of the Chinese Winter Olympics will say goodbye to everyone, or will it be difficult to persist until Milan in four years?
In terms of the overall results of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the main events of the Chinese team winning gold are still short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, figure skating and speed skating. It is gratifying that among the 15 medals of the Chinese sports delegation at the Winter Olympic Games, the snow event surpassed the ice event for the first time, and "ice strength and snow weakness" is no longer the "difficult disease" of the Chinese Winter Olympic Team.
But it is undeniable that in these traditional advantage projects, once the veteran fades out, the overall competitiveness of the Chinese team will decline significantly. The short track speed skating team contributed two gold medals to the Chinese team at the Beijing Winter Olympics, the mixed men's 2000m relay and the men's 1000m. In the current batch of main lineups, Ren Ziwei and Li Wenlong are expected to stick to the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, but Fan Kexin and Wu Dajing are two meritorious veterans, and the Beijing Winter Olympics may be their final battle.
Even if we continue to insist on it with a passion, the decline in comprehensive strength is also an inevitable trend. Once Wu Dajing, Fan Kexin and the Chinese short track speed skating team bid farewell, it is imperative for the entire team to replace and cultivate new leaders. The freestyle skiing aerial skills team also made a qualitative leap forward at the Beijing Winter Olympics, with Qi Guangpu and Xu Mengtao winning the championships for the first time in the men's singles and women's singles events respectively, creating the best Olympic results in the team's history. At present, the Chinese freestyle skiing aerial skills team mainly relies on veterans to play the world.
Jia Zongyang, Xu Mengtao, and Qi Guangpu are already elders of the Four Dynasties, and almost all three of them can not hold out until the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. If these three mainstays bid farewell to the field, in the case of newcomers who are difficult to shoulder the heavy responsibility, the Chinese team may be surpassed by the United States, Russia, Switzerland and so on. The Achievements of the Chinese Legion at the Beijing Winter Olympics are unprecedented, and perhaps in the next few Winter Olympic Games, it will be difficult to surpass the glory of this time. After many veterans with gold-winning strength in various projects fade out and decline in status, whether the newcomers can get up has become everyone's question!
(Luo Treasurer)